FULLERTON – – Halftime adjustments are vital in determining who wins tight football games.
Fortunately for Troy’s coaching staff, the only real piece of fine-tuning it had to do during Thursday’s intermission included inserting its workhorse running back into the contest when the second-half whistle blew.
After resting a twisted ankle in the opening half, Troy senior Dray Shaw ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, re-energizing a sluggish Warriors offense en route to a 33-16 win over El Dorado in a nonleague game at Fullerton High.
“It’s probably one of the ugliest wins I’ve ever been apart of,” Troy coach Kevin Hastin said after the game. “We just came out and ran the ball in the second half. We were getting too cute on offense in the first half and we went back to what we do in the second.”
The Warriors (1-1), who trailed, 16-7, midway through the third quarter, mustered 75 rushing yards on 19 carries in the first and second quarters. Shaw needed only 10 carries to eclipse the 100-yard plateau over the final 24 minutes, with his first touch of the night resulting in a 45-yard score that cut El Dorado’s lead to 16-14 with 6:55 left in the third.
Troy seized the lead for good on its first possession of the fourth when Shaw capped off a two-play, 35-yard drive with a 2-yard plunge into the end zone.
“He was banged up and we wanted to rest him tonight,” Hastin said. “But we needed him.”
The Warriors gained 229 yards rushing in the second half on 25 carries. Sophomore QB Josiah Norwood ran for 75 yards and tossed just one pass in the second half, a 65-yard TD strike to Ryan Scotti midway through the fourth quarter, which extended Troy’s lead to 27-16.
El Dorado (0-1) dropped its 12th straight game dating back to the 2013 season, but looked much improved for three quarters behind junior quarterback Austin Shear and linebacker Zane Bass.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
